A Financial Disaster For Warner Bros
Alejandro Iñárritu’s eco-satire Digger had a disastrous start at the box office. The film stars Tom Cruise and marked a return to more serious roles. Industry analysts estimate it could lose Warner Bros. close to a quarter of a billion dollars. The dark comedy received a highly mixed-to-negative response from international film critics. Cruise plays an eccentric oil baron trying to resolve a massive environmental crisis. The film has completely failed to find a wide, mainstream cinematic audience. It earned just $14.4 million in North America after two weeks in theaters. It grossed a highly disappointing $35.3 million worldwide over the same period.
A Risky Artistic Proposition
Those figures suggest cumulative financial losses of around $245 million for the studio. Analyst Christopher Rosen called the financial result an absolute disaster for the producers. Marketing for a massive film like this can easily cost up to $100 million. The result comes at a highly sensitive moment as Warner Bros. finalizes a merger. Digger was greenlit under outgoing Warner Bros. film chiefs Pam Abdy and Michael De Luca. They became known for giving filmmakers resources to pursue highly original, innovative projects. Analyst Daniel Loria noted the film was always a challenging proposition for mainstream audiences. It serves as an art-house satire of American culture from a non-American director.
The Limits Of Star Power
Loria believes the movie was never designed to capture a broad general audience. The film takes every opportunity to push viewers in highly uncomfortable narrative directions. American audiences rarely embrace films that aggressively criticize American culture and capitalism. Cruise’s massive global star power ensured the film drew considerable initial media attention. However, even the biggest movie star in the world could not save this project. Loria believes the studio marketed an art-house film to the wrong target demographic. Keep up with the latest Hollywood box office results and celebrity news. Find more engaging entertainment features today on The WAU.
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